Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

As one of the five Deputies who introduced this Bill last week on behalf of the Simon Communities of Ireland, I support the Bill, as every and any action that can prevent people being evicted into homelessness is a progressive protective step for people facing increasing notices to quit, evictions and homelessness.

My colleagues in my constituency office report that they have seen a steady increase in the number of families and individuals presenting at the office who face notices to quit. One such couple, who came in yesterday, have been privately renting the same house from a private landlord for the last 17 years. They have two children, one of whom has special needs and is strongly linked in with the community. For them, facing a notice to quit is a nightmare. It exposes the insecurity of private rented accommodation for families and the need for a ramping up of the cost-rental model of housing for people and families. Rent should not be based on the market rate but on affordability relative to income.

These families and individuals are reflected in a recent article written by Dr. Rory Hearne which noted that since July this year, there has been an 18% increase in the number of children in homeless accommodation, with a 25% increase in the south and south west. This is a shocking increase. The eviction ban of March 2020 meant the number of notices to quit fell dramatically, by 83%, in the second quarter of 2020. It fell again in the first quarter of this year due to the October 2020 moratorium. After the ban was removed in April, eviction notices doubled from 352 in the first quarter of the year to 841 in the second quarter, and reached 887 in the third quarter. Two thirds of these were issued to tenants outside Dublin.

Threshold has dealt with almost 4,000 eviction cases this year, which is about 1,000 more than the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, figure. This suggests a significant number of landlords are failing to register their eviction notices with the RTB, which is a legal requirement. This is coupled with an unprecedented shortage of available rental property. People have nowhere to go when they face these notices. The Simon Communities of Ireland found that in Cork city, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford city not one property was available to rent within the affordability range of someone on a low income who was eligible for a housing assistance payment, HAP.

The Bill is designed to reduce the number of people evicted into homelessness. It will allow local authorities to determine whether a person or family is at risk of homelessness. Such a determination would trigger an extension in the notice period of that person's or family's tenancy in order to avoid entry into emergency accommodation at the end of the four-week period. It proposes to change tenancy laws so that a person or family at risk of homelessness is provided with a three-month extension to their notice period. The three-month extension would be triggered by a housing authority or local authority certifying a person as being at risk of homelessness, within the meaning set out in the Housing Act, upon the termination of the existing notice period.

The Right 2 Change party's housing policy goes further that this in providing that legislation should be introduced to ban all economic evictions into homelessness. In saying that, I support the Bill as it is progressive and I commend the Simon communities and Mr. Wayne Stanley on advancing this legislation. I welcome the fact that the Minister contacted the Simon communities this morning and agreed to progress the substance of the Bill in the first quarter of next year. Deputies on this side of the House will ensure that happens. In tandem with this Bill going through Committee Stage in the first quarter of next year, it has been predicted that Omicron variant cases will double every two days in the coming period. On that basis, we should introduce an eviction ban immediately because people in very poor housing conditions will be infected and potentially end up in hospital.

I thank Sinn Féin for using its Private Members' time to put this Bill on the agenda.

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